Just Label It, News Roundup 1-12

This week in the news, the United States has lost 85,000 small dairy farms in the past 20 years. Transitioning to organic practices could save the ones that are left. Monsanto’s Dicamba drift continues to make news with millions of acres of crops damaged. The rapid growth of Monsanto’s new GMO seeds resistant to the controversial herbicide dicamba has revived worries about the company’s stranglehold over farming during a period of industry consolidation. In other news, if you’re already shopping organic, the next step is organic, regenerative ag. And in Puerto Rico, December 29th marks 100 days since Hurricane Maria made landfall. As a major disaster aid package progresses—slowly—through Congress, it’s time to prioritize the island’s right to food security.

Healthy, nutrient-dense soil arises when farmers put processes in place that essentially let the land tend to itself. Like organic farming, regenerative agriculture forgoes the use of herbicides and pesticides and protects crops naturally. But it takes this holistic approach a step further by using practices like conservation tillage (leaving the previous year’s crop residue out on the field), using cover crops (planting certain crops to prevent soil erosion), and promoting crop rotation (growing different crops in the same area to ward off pests and disease). All of these practices speak to the poetic notion that nature knows how to heal itself—we just have to step aside, pack up our chemicals, and let it do so.

December 29th marks 100 days since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico. Today, the island imports 95 percent of its food. As a major disaster aid package progresses—slowly—through Congress, it’s time to prioritize the island’s right to food security.

The rapid growth of Monsanto’s new GMO seeds resistant to the controversial herbicide dicamba has revived worries about the company’s stranglehold over farming during a period of industry consolidation.